Attendance record at the Artistic Worlds in Reus, Spain

32 countries and 1024 athletes take part in the 2014 FIRS World Championships of Figure Skating taking place in Reus, Spain. It is a record for an Artistic Skating event, a very good omen for the development of the discipline on the international scale.

First African participation

Another first: After joining in for hockey and speed skating, South Africa has registered for artistic too, unveiling the potential of skating development in the continent. South Africa will present a program in the group show category. Let's also note the presence of countries such as Belgium, Iran and Paraguay.

An unprecedented attendance

"We have worked a lot to make those championships the greatest ever organized" Mayor of Reus and co-president of the organization committee Carles Pellicer said.

"The number of competitors has far exceeded our expectations, we were expecting for 25 to 28 countries and 32 have registered. More than 8.000 overnight stays have been booked!" sports counselor and president of the executive committee Sebastian Domenech said.

Last but not least, Carmelo Paniagua, the president of the Royal Spanish Skating Federation and co-president of the Worlds organization committee, declared that more work needed to be done still, but insisted on the fact that all that has been done so far suggests that Reus is organizing the best World Championships ever.